Emerging “Amish” Church

April 5, 2008 1 Comment

According to JesusManifesto.com, the first ever “emerging” Amish church launched recently just outside of Columbus, Ohio. The church, calling itself “Solomon’s Barn” blends cutting edge worship with Amish sensibilities. Its pastor, Jacob Yoder (who prefers to be called “Jay”) believes that the Amish can learn from emerging styles of worship. “We’re ready for something new…something fresh,” says Pastor Jay.

When asked about his sources of inspiration, Pastor Jay (who wears a soul-patch instead of a traditional Amish beard) responded by saying: “I mean, there I was, settling with ‘church as usual’ when I stumbled upon the writings of Brian McLaren. I felt like his words were coming right from my own head, you know? I realized that I was a postmodern Amish person…I needed to reject pre-modernism for a more authentic faith.”

Worship at Solomon’s Barn reflects Amish traditions…for example, the men and women are seated separately, but instead of pews, the congregation sits on couches in their worship space–a renovated barn. Women still wear head coverings, but many of the coverings have patches sown into them that say “another world is possible” or “jesus was homeless.” Many of the worship songs are simply contemporary Amish pop tunes with worshipful lyrics added. And while Amish worship services have always used candles–or lanterns–this new hip, Amish church drapes black cloth around their makeshift sanctuary.

You can read more of this emerging amish church over at JesusManifesto.com.

(ht: Monday Morning Insight)